Mind Matters
Last year during the start of COVID-19 and blended learning, Kelly our school counsellor provided some extra resources in case families needed them while they were away from school. This might be a good time to again look at some things that you can do to assist your children and the adults in your home, if they are feeling overwhelmed at this time.
You can ring the numbers below anytime and talk to them about anything. They are friendly and are staffed by counsellors who can talk you through any concerns.
Parentline, 1300 1300 52: Parentline is a telephone counselling, information and referral service for parents of children aged 0 to 18 who live in NSW. Any parent/carer can ring with no question or query being too big or small. They are open: weekdays 9:00am to 9:00pm and weekends 9:00am to 4:00pm.
Kids helpline, 1800 55 1800: Kids helpline is a free national telephone counselling service for kids 5 or older meaning kids can safely access it directly. I would suggest helping your child navigate it first to help them. Any parent/carer can also ring with no question or query being too big or small. The service is open 24 hours and they can also do webchat and email counselling.
Also, there are a couple of online resources for reading together with your child. I would suggest that you read through them before showing your child so you know if it is ok for them:
Birdie and the Big Sickness - a children’s story about getting sick.
My Coronavirus Story - a factual story for children about the virus, because children have questions!
Smiling Mind - This is always a great site to practice mindfulness and relaxation. They have introduced a section specifically for coping during these times. Certainly worth a look and a listen! https://www.smilingmind.com.au/
Boredom busters - Look online for things to do while you are at home together with your child/ren. Some great examples I have heard are having a dress up day or choosing a country and making food from that country. These things can help children take their minds off things and helps them to feel grounded and in control of what is going on around them.
Calming techniques
Everyone will be feeling worried. Here are a few things you can do to help calm your children:
- What is the colour of calm?
Ask your children what colour they think calm would be and ask them to do a drawing of their favourite thing in that colour. Ask them to describe what it feels like to be calm.
- Take Two
Write down or draw a picture of 2 of their worries. Drawing/writing helps children to let go of the emotion that they have around the worry. THEN, ask them to draw/write the worry with a happy ending. This helps children find a solution to their worry.
- Colour in!
Colouring in is one of the best ways to become calm! It is so simple yet quietens the mind and helps regulate the nervous system. Look online for free printables to use.
- The 5 things technique
Look around and see if you can find these things around you: 5 things you can see, 4 things you can hear, 3 things you can feel, 2 things you can smell, 1 thing you can taste. This exercise can be done anywhere and helps children manage their worry.
Most of all, remember to take care of yourselves, be kind to each other and breathe.